Minimum State Requirements

Exemptions for Medical Reasons

To claim an exclusion for medical reasons, the child or student must
present an exemption statement to the school or child-care facility,
dated and signed by a physician (M.D. or D.O.), properly licensed and in
good standing in any state in the United States who has examined the
child or student. The statement must state that, in the physician's
opinion, the vaccine required is medically contraindicated or poses a
significant risk to the health and well-being of the child or student or
any member of the child's or student's household. Unless it is written
in the statement that a lifelong condition exists, the exemption
statement is valid for only one year from the date signed by the
physician.

Exclusions for Armed Forces Service Members

To claim an exclusion for armed forces, persons who can prove that
they are serving on active duty with the armed forces of the United
States are exempted from the requirements in these sections.

Note: Armed forces exclusions apply to active-duty military only.
Dependents of service members are NOT excluded from Texas vaccination
requirements.

Requesting an Exemption for Reasons of Conscience

To claim an exclusion for reasons of conscience, including a
religious belief, the child's parent, legal guardian, or a student 18
years of age or older must present to the school or child-care facility a
completed, signed and notarized affidavit on a form provided by the
department stating that the child's parent, legal guardian, or the
student declines vaccinations for reasons of conscience, including
because of the person's religious beliefs.

The form must be submitted to the school or child-care facility
within 90 days from the date it is notarized. The affidavit will be
valid for a two-year period from the date of notarization. A child or
student who has not received the required immunizations for reasons of
conscience, including religious beliefs, may be excluded from school in
times of emergency or epidemic declared by the commissioner of the
department.

Obtaining an Affidavit

A person claiming exclusion for reasons of conscience, including a
religious belief, from a required immunization may only obtain the
affidavit form by submitting a request (via online form, mail, fax or
hand-delivery) to the department. The request must include following
information:

Full name of child or student

Child's or student's date of birth (month/day/year)

Complete mailing address, including telephone number

Number of requested affidavit forms (not to exceed 5).

Affidavit form requests will be processed and mailed within one week
from the receipt of the request. If additional information is needed in
order to process the affidavit, you will be notified.

Email or telephone requests cannot be processed. Requests for
affidavit forms must be submitted to the department through one of the
following methods:

Obtaining an Affidavit In Person

NOTE: No requests will be filled at the time of hand-delivery.
All affidavit forms will be mailed to you via U.S. Postal Service.

Immunization Awareness Program

Sec.
38.019. IMMUNIZATION AWARENESS PROGRAM. (a) A school district
that maintains an Internet website shall post prominently on the website:

(1) a
list, in English and Spanish, of:

(A) the
immunizations required for admission to public school by rules of the
Department of State Health Services adopted under Section 38.001;

(B) any
immunizations or vaccines recommended for public school students by the
Department of State Health Services; and

(C) health
clinics in the district that offer the influenza vaccine, to the extent those
clinics are known to the district; and

(2) a link
to the Department of State Health Services Internet website where a person may
obtain information relating to the procedures for claiming an exemption from
the immunization requirements of Section 38.001.

(a-1) The
link to the Department of State Health Services Internet website provided under
Subsection (a)(2) must be presented in the same manner as the information
provided under Subsection (a)(1).

(b) The list of
recommended immunizations or vaccines under Subsection (a)(2) must include the
influenza vaccine, unless the Department of State Health Services requires the
influenza vaccine for admission to public school.